Nottingham Forest could be boosted by the return of Scott McKenna and Harry Arter for their clash with Reading on Saturday.
The pair have had a lengthy spell on the sidelines but returned to training last week and boss Chris Hughton says they have “done enough” to be considered for selection.
The Reds manager admits he has some difficult calls to make, however, with midfielder Fouad Bachirou now the only player on the treatment table.
Defender McKenna (ankle) has been out of action since the defeat to Middlesbrough seven weeks ago, while midfielder Arter (calf) has not featured since the start of January and the FA Cup victory over Cardiff City.
Forest have also been without striker Lewis Grabban (hamstring), but are starting to get more bodies back as they prepare to face the Royals.
“It’s good news, at this moment it’s only Bachirou who is not training,” Hughton told NottinghamshireLive.
“Apart from him, everybody else is back in training.
“It’s his lower hamstring.
“It’s a problem he had before. I wouldn’t say he aggravated it, but he just felt it in the Under-23s game he played.
“He won’t be far away. We’re expecting him to be training next week, hopefully.”
Hughton says he has a decision to make over Arter and McKenna for the weekend’s match at the City Ground.
“At the moment, we have got a lot of players fit and I’ve got decisions to make as regards the team and the squad,” he explained.
“As regards the amount of sessions they’ve done, it’s probably not ideal. But they are both in good shape and they’ve both done enough days’ training to be considered.”
Forest go into the game on the back of successive defeats, against Luton Town and Watford.
They are 17th in the table, with an eight-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three, while Reading are in fifth spot.
The Reds have had the benefit of no midweek match, and Hughton says they are in a better position to bounce back from negative results than they were earlier in the season.
“It’s been a good week’s training and good to have a free week,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of players training, which is good.
“I think we are in a better place than we were a couple of months ago (when on a bad run) - the games are tighter.
“It’s been good to have a free week, because of the training we can get in and the fact you can get a little bit of a break away - not just for the players.
“From a physical point of view, it allows the players who have played a lot of minutes to have a bit of down time.
“Also, for us as a staff, it’s a chance to reflect a little bit and have a good week’s planning into a game, as opposed to one or two days.”
